Patria y Vida: A Cry Born in Miami Hits the Big Screen

In a city where nostalgia is a shared language and the dream of a free Cuba has never died, Patria y Vida became more than just a song — it became a collective outcry. That outcry, born in the heart of Miami's Cuban exile community, now has its own documentary. Directed by artist and songwriter Beatriz Luengo and starring her husband, Yotuel Romero, the film premieres today across Florida theaters, distributed by Spanglish Movies.

"It's been a titanic struggle," Luengo tells New Times from her car. Her voice is filled with emotion and the fatigue of someone who has fought hard against silence. Since its early screenings at European festivals, where it was warmly received, the documentary has also faced censorship attempts from Cuba: "Every time a festival selected us, they would receive hundreds of emails asking them not to screen the film."

But neither pressure nor fear stopped what was already unstoppable: the story of Patria y Vida not only deserved to be told — it demanded to be projected. "It's my first film as a debut director, an independent production, and in a language that isn't dominant in Hollywood. Still, we're premiering in all AMC theaters across Florida, and if it goes well, we'll expand to more cities," adds Luengo.

The documentary tells the story of a song that — without record labels, curated playlists, or marketing campaigns —became an anthem. It was the voice of people tired of silence. On July 11, 2021, Cubans flooded the streets shouting those three words: "Patria y Vida." Yotuel, who is sitting in the car next to Luengo, recalls, "That day we saw, with the blood of Black and brown bodies, a people rise up against their master. It wasn't the end, it was the beginning."
Patria y Vida was created by six musicians: Yotuel, El Funky, Maykel Osorbo, Gente de Zona, and Descemer Bueno, each of them using their platform and risking everything to create a song of resistance. Maykel Osorbo is currently imprisoned in a maximum-security prison in Cuba. Gente de Zona faced threats so serious that the FBI warned them of possible kidnapping attempts. El Funky's application for U.S. residency under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act was denied, then reopened, and his legal status remains uncertain. The stakes were never small.

Luengo vividly remembers when she realized the movement had grown beyond them: "When they gave us a page in the U.S. Congressional Record, next to Martin Luther King's speech, with the song lyrics printed in gold ink for future generations to know it was a hymn of freedom."

The film includes powerful appearances by icons like Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Camila Cabello, and Willy Chirino, who amplify the documentary's emotional and musical resonance. Through their voices and testimonies, Patria y Vida becomes not just a historical record but a global anthem of courage.

But Patria y Vida not only changed Cuba's recent history, it also transformed its creators. "It brought us even closer together as a couple and as parents. It could have destroyed us, but it made us stronger," Luengo says. For Yotuel, it gave him peace: "When you know what you're doing is for the good of your people, you carry God like a backpack."

Yotuel speaks from a place of love and pain. "My relationship with Cuba hasn't changed," he says. "The dictatorship is not Cuba. Cuba is my people, my neighborhood, my corner. And I still love it. He remains hopeful: "That July 11 was not the end. It was the beginning of the end. We are closer than ever."

The documentary arrives in theaters during a critical moment. "The media is overwhelmed with global crises," Luengo explains. "Sadly, tragedies compete for attention, and there's very little space left for Cuba. That's why art must remain a white weapon, sharp and peaceful, that keeps the island's reality in context."

The title Patria y Vida — a direct challenge to the regime's long-standing motto "Patria o Muerte" (Homeland or Death) — gave people a vision to hold onto. "People cry at concerts," says Yotuel. "They see themselves in those words. It gave the Cuban people something to believe in. That's why the government fears it so much."

The film is a deeply personal chronicle, but its implications are universal. "This isn't about ideology anymore. It's about humanity," Yotuel says. "Anyone who watches the documentary walks away understanding the dehumanization that Cubans face every day."

To the youth who never knew freedom was even possible, Yotuel sends a message: "Liberty is something you don't learn, it lives inside you. The regime tried to sell us an eternal moral debt, but this generation doesn't buy it. They're done pretending. They're ready to live."

The song that shook a regime, that earned two Latin Grammy Awards, and that now lives in the U.S. Congressional Record, continues to echo in theaters and hearts. This documentary is more than a story, it's a mirror, a warning, and a promise. As Yotuel puts it, "To help push the car of freedom forward, and someday look back and say, 'We made it', that's the most powerful thing we can imagine."

Patria y Vida is currently showing at the following movie theatres

Silverspot Cinema - Downtown Miami
AMC- Aventura Mall 24
AMC- Pompano Beach 18
AMC - Veterans Expressway 24
AMC- Tamiami 14
AMC- Sunset Place 24
AMC -Hialeah 12
CMX Brickell Dine
CMX Dolphin 19 & IMAX
CMX Miami Lakes 13